What if you ate nothing but burgers and hadn’t touched a vegetable in decades? The subjects of TV’s “Freaky Eaters” know the answer, and it isn’t pretty. In an exclusive Lifescript interview, host and nutritionist JJ Virgin discusses how they got that way and what it takes to help them recover. Plus, get her tips for improving your own healthy eating habits...

You may like hamburgers or candy a little too much... but what if you couldn’t get yourself to eat anything else - ever?

That’s the dilemma faced by the folks on “Freaky Eaters,” a documentary TV show on the Learning Channel. These unhealthy noshers compulsively eat the same foods repeatedly, making an ordinary person’s worst binges look normal by comparison.

Based on a BBC series taped in England, the reality show helps participants develop healthy eating habits before they wreck their bodies, relationships and lives.

She works with people like Christine, who was addicted to chocolate, or Victor, who ate nothing but cheeseburgers for nearly 30 years. He had

diabetes and high blood pressure, but his aversion to vegetables was so great that just getting him to put a pickle on his patty was a challenge, Virgin says.

How do people develop such bizarre eating habits?

In this exclusive Lifescript interview, Virgin explains their behavior, how they recovered and what the rest of us should do to adopt healthy eating habits.

How do people, like the ones on “Freaky Eaters,” get so obsessed with certain foods?I’ve been in [the nutrition business] for 25 years, and everyone has a little freak in them – but not to the point where it’s interrupting their life and hurting their health, relationships and career.

I couldn’t point to all these people and say it’s a psychological or genetic issue.

It’s really a blend of factors. It’s learned behavior that they started getting used to, with maybe a genetic and biochemical [component].

Can you give some examples?[Take] “French fry girl,” who was addicted to fries. That was definitely

a genetic or biochemical thing. Genes can help dictate [physical cravings for certain foods].

A woman named Christine, who was obsessed with chocolate, had more of a psychological [issue].

She was raised in a family where they just ate sugar; it was a form of approval and love. They’d get together and have cakes and cookies. So she equated that with a good time.

So she couldn’t connect with loved ones without sweets?She said, “When my grandkids come to visit and I can’t have sugar, what will I do with them?”

I remember looking at her and saying, “Play ball, go swimming.” It took my breath away.

That’s how she felt her kids thought of her.

She was the fun mom because she gave them cookies and cakes. And neither kid eats any of that now. They both rebelled against it.

How did “pizza guy” end up hooked?His mom was a working mom, and so she just let him choose [his meals].

If I told my children, “OK, I’m going to give you money, and you can

just make your food choices each day,” are they going to have salmon? No, they’d have chicken fingers, cheeseburgers and pizza.

He got used to eating that way, and he never really ate vegetables.

How do genes steer some of the “Freaky Eaters” from healthful foods?[Some] people have the gene where they don’t like bitter tastes. They’re known as “super-tasters” [because they experience flavors more strongly than most people].

Those are the ones we really had to talk into trying vegetables.

“Pizza guy” had never even tasted vegetables. He had to learn to like them.

Was that the case with “cheeseburger guy,” who also avoided veggies?When we first met him, we thought he had obsessive-compulsive disorder, because if the lettuce touched the burger, he’d send it back.

But a genetic test showed he was a super-taster and very sensitive to bitter taste.

He was able to switch from beef burgers to turkey burgers, but he didn’t

like the veggie burger [because of its more bitter taste]. But he loved the mango salsa.

What did it take to reprogram his behavior?“Pizza guy” said, “Wow, I can’t believe I was eating like that. It’s really gross.” But he still wasn’t going to change to healthy eating habits.

I only got him to quit pizza when I showed him test results that found he was severely hypoglycemic and had a [negative physical] reaction to dairy. When he saw that, he [gave up his all-pizza diet].

The “raw meat guy” said, “I’m not worried about [eating this way]. It’s more dangerous to walk across the street.”

Then I showed him the results of a stool test that found he had a parasite and bacterial liver growth.

The minute he saw that he said, “OK, I quit.”

Have you had any “Freaky Eaters” failures?“Cola girl,” [a 20-year-old] who drank 30 colas a day. We actually showed her that she was pre-diabetic and was losing bone at the levels of a 40-year-old.

That testing made an impact on her. Still, she couldn’t get out of her

own way. She’s such an addict. She said she would change when she wants to.

How far do you take treatments?We do “shock therapy,” because we don’t know what will [persuade someone to develop healthy eating habits].

Victor [the 34-year-old “cheeseburger guy”] was already a diabetic with high blood pressure, and he wasn’t taking his medication.

So we had him [pretend to] become his own heart and suck thick blood through progressively smaller tubes. He got so tired that the blood got stuck in the middle of the tube.

We said, “Victor, you just had a heart attack.” That was it.

For “sugar girl,” we made a grave of sugar and made her lie down in it. Then her son, whom she adored, read her eulogy: “Mom, I’m so sorry you’re not going to be able to see your grandkids grow up because you couldn’t stop eating the sugar.”

She was a train wreck [after that].

Do you plan to follow up with “Freaky Eaters” participants to see how they’re doing over the long term?Yes, which I’m so happy about. I’m hoping the person watching at home will go, “If that guy can keep up healthy eating habits, then I certainly can.”

And we’re giving them very easy ways to change. If you’re eating beef

burgers, try turkey burgers, and put some vegetables on them. Who can’t do that?

[Unfortunately, we may discover that] our “cola girl” is drinking even more cola, with Twinkies added to it.

What advice can you give people who aren’t “freaky eaters” but who want to change their unhealthy eating habits?It’s really about taking on healthy eating habits to replace your unhealthy ones.

First, get all the bad foods out of your house.Don’t make it hard on yourself.

I don’t keep things like ice cream and dark chocolate. If I brought home a dark chocolate bar, I’d end up eating all of it.

Find a good substitute for unhealthy choices. It can either be a food or behavior.

Let’s say every night you love to get in bed with cookies. Find something else, whether it’s a guy or a book.

If you like to come home and “medicate” with some cookies and milk – or maybe in the afternoon, you’re hungry and have a muffin or a latte –

you can turn that into [something better for you, like] green tea and an apple with nut butter.

Add healthy stuff [to your diet] before you start taking away [the unhealthy foods].When you just take things away, you sometimes end up filling up with worse things.

Think about kids – they get full quickly, so if you start them out eating healthy food, they’re not going to chow down on a huge dessert.

Say you’re going to have pizza for dinner. What would happen if you had a salad first, then got a thin-crust pizza and put some chicken and vegetables on top? You’re not going to eat as much of the pizza.

Add vegetables and other healthy foods, add water in between meals, and you’ll naturally replace some of the unhealthier choices.

What words of encouragement can you offer to people struggling with food choices?Health and wellness is a journey. You’re always working on getting better.

If you’re not where you want to be, you didn’t get there overnight – and

you’re not going to get better overnight either. So pick one thing at a time, fix that, and go on to the next.

Do You Have an Eating Disorder?In today's thin-obsessed society, it's hard to feel confident about your body. You may overindulge in junk foods, or you may often feel ashamed of your weight. Everyone has insecurities, but these insecurities can lead some people to develop a negative relationship with food. Are your eating habits normal, or are you on the road to an eating disorder? Find out with this quiz.

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